Maccabi edges Rishon Lezion in 2OT • Jerusalem holds off Hapoel Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv took a three-point lead after 10 minutes as Tarik Black scored four points for the yellow-and-blue while Long dropped five points for Rishon.

By JOSHUA HALICKMAN
MACCABI TEL AVIV was given all it could handle by Maccabi Rishon Lezion on Monday night in BSL action, but the yellow-and-blue managed to pull off a thrilling 94-92 victory to remain in first place (photo credit: ADI AVISHAI)
MACCABI TEL AVIV was given all it could handle by Maccabi Rishon Lezion on Monday night in BSL action, but the yellow-and-blue managed to pull off a thrilling 94-92 victory to remain in first place
(photo credit: ADI AVISHAI)
It took two overtime periods, but Maccabi Tel Aviv nipped Maccabi Rishon Lezion 94-92 in Basketball Super League action on Monday night thanks to Yovel Zoosman’s basket with 1.5 seconds remaining in the game.
Jeremy Pargo continued his fine play with 17 points and six assists for the victors, while Alex Tyus went a perfect 7-of-7 from the field for 16 points as John DiBartolomeo added 14 points in the win. Alex Hamilton’s 20 points and Cameron Long’s 18 points led the way for Rishon.
Tel Aviv took a three-point lead after 10 minutes as Tarik Black scored four points for the yellow-and-blue while Long dropped five points for Rishon.
DiBartolomeo was busy in the second quarter while Black continued his dominance in the paint for Maccabi, but Long kept the hosts in the game and Rishon went into halftime down by just two (42-40).
Itay Segev was active to start the second half while Hamilton also provided the offensive spark for Guy Goodes’s squad as Rishon knotted up the score at 62-62 with 10 minutes remaining in the contest.
The two sides went back and forth in the final frame as Maccabi took a 77-73 lead on a Tyus alley-oop, but a pair of buckets by Long and Hamilton with under 14 seconds left in the fourth quarter tied up the game to send it to overtime.
Hamilton dropped seven quick points to put Rishon out in front 86-79 with under two minutes left in the first overtime, but a Pargo bucket, a DiBartolomeo triple and a Michael Roll layup with 7.7 seconds left evened up the contest (86-86) as the squads went into a second extra session.
Pargo led the charge for Maccabi and Zoosman put home a layup with 1.5 seconds left to record the hard-earned win for the league leader, which improved to 16-4.
Meanwhile, Hapoel Jerusalem defeated Hapoel Tel Aviv 90-86 in an aggressive and entertaining game at the Drive In Arena.
Danny Franco’s Tel Aviv jumped out to an early lead, but Jerusalem was able to come back and take the victory thanks to a 17-0 run that went from the end of the third quarter to the beginning of the fourth.
Tashawn Thomas starred for Jerusalem with 26 points and nine rebounds, Josh Owens recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards, while J’Covan Brown came close with points and nine assists. Tomer Ginat led Tel Aviv with 17 points and 11 rebounds, Garlon Green chipped in with 16 points and Captain Raviv Limonad added 15 points in the defeat.
Hapoel Tel Aviv took a 10-8 lead midway through the first quarter thanks to Limonad and Green as Jerusalem had five turnovers in the early going. Ginat ratcheted up the host’s offense down the stretch of the frame as Tel Aviv grabbed a 24-12 advantage.
But Jerusalem came out on fire in the second quarter and quickly ripped off a 10-0 run to cut the Hapoel lead to 24-22 before Tel Aviv quickly came back to go up by seven points (32-25).
Green and Limonad continued to provide the offense as Rich Howell chipped in with some important buckets for Hapoel while Lior Eliyahu, Thomas and Owens helped Jerusalem cut the lead to just a point by halftime (44-43).
Ginat and Limonad led the charge as Tel Aviv pulled ahead 60-52 with 5:15 left in the third quarter, but buckets by Thomas and Owens along with a triple by Brown gave Oded Katash’s side a 70-64 advantage after 30 minutes of action.
Jerusalem capped its 17-0 run to go up 74-64 with 8:35 left in the game, but Jamal Shuler drained a three-pointer to pull Tel Aviv to within 86-83 with 34 seconds left in the contest before Thomas and James Feldeine each hit a pair of free throws to take the tight triumph.
Owens spoke to The Jerusalem Post following the victory.
“We came out in a hostile environment on the road and had some guys step up and play real well and we got a good team win. We had a game plan going in that we had been working on over the last few days and we didn’t come out and execute. Oded riled the troops and got us back to execute the game plan and that helped us down the stretch,” he said.
In other action, Hapoel Holon squeaked by Bnei Herzliya 85-82 in overtime to improve to 16-4 alongside Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Karam Mashour and Jerome Dyson led the way for Herzliya with 19 points each, while Shawn Jones had a monster performance for Holon with 24 points, 16 rebounds and an efficiency rating of 39 in the win.
A pair of Jones dunks near the end of regulation send the game into the extra session, where Holon’s Corey Walden – who also recorded a double-double with 13 points and 11 assists – worked his magic to help his side snatch the win.
Also, over the weekend, Maccabi Tel Aviv rallied from 23 points down to beat Ness Ziona 87-82 at Yad Eliyahu. Visiting Ness Ziona stormed out to a 40-17 lead early in the first half. However, Scottie Wilbekin (20 points) and Pargo with 15 points began chipping away at the lead and the yellow-and-blue eventually overcame the deficit to notch the victory.
Elsewhere, Hapoel Beersheba easily took out Nahariya 85-75 in the southern capital and Hapoel Eilat dismantled Maccabi Ashdod 102-77 down south.